U.S. Decision Delayed on Probe into Canadian Mill’s Subsidies

 

According to a recent report by the Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Canada, American investigators have until later this summer to decide whether a Point Tupper paper mill violated international trade law by accepting millions in government subsidies. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it will delay a preliminary decision into its paper mill probe at the request of the American paper companies that filed the complaint, the report noted.

 

 

The department has been investigating government subsidies paid to Canadian mills, including Port Hawkesbury Paper, which stands as a direct competitor to mills in Madison and Minnesota. According to the report, officials at two American mills have said that the subsidies have allowed the Nova Scotia mill to dump supercalendered paper on the U.S. market at prices far below what they can compete with.

U.S. mill owners are also asking their trade commission to place tariffs on imports of Canadian supercalendered papers to limit their competitiveness in the American market. Port Hawkesbury Paper spokesman Marc Dube has said in the report that he cannot comment on the matter until the investigation is done.

"It is not appropriate for us to comment," Dube said in an email to the Chronicle Herald last month. "Our legal team is focused on vigorously defending this matter, as we feel the complaints are without merit and some of the U.S. media coverage contained erroneous information... Our mill team will continue to focus our efforts on safely and sustainably producing our paper products."

A decision deadline for the subsidy investigation is July 27.